Thessaloniki | International Residency | Photo: Chris Keenan .

07/08 ANNUAL REPORT

The Other Way Works creates daring and remarkable that draws the audience THE OTHER WAY WORKS into the very heart of the experience. In The Shadow | Photo: Katie Day .

07/08 INTRODUCTION April 2007 - March 2008 was a year of change for The Other Way key industry showcases: the Decibel Showcase in and Works. In August 2007 Jane Packman stepped down as co-Artistic Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Director, and left the Company to pursue her own projects. I took on the role of sole Artistic Director of the Company at this As a further boost to our profile, our production I am Waiting (2006) point, and the Company continued to build on its strengths featured in the exhibition Collaborators: UK Design For Performance, throughout this period. Development began on a major new which ran at the V&A in from November 2007-August 2008. production Black Tonic in January 2008, which will carry the Company into 2009 and possibly beyond. A summary of performances, participatory and international projects follows. For more information on any of these, please follow the links I continued to spread the word about the Company, talking to a or take a look at our website www.theotherwayworks.co.uk. group of trainee Arts Workshop Leaders on Birmingham City Katie Day Council’s Flying Start Scheme in January 2008. I also attended two Artistic Director

The Other Way Works creates daring and remarkable theatre that draws the audience 2 THE OTHER WAY WORKS into the very heart of the experience. Call Girls .

07/08 PERFORMANCES IN THE SHADOW CALL GIRLS A new performance inspired by the people of Birmingham, April 2007 In December 2007 we aired our first performance of Call Girls, an Annie, a chatty litter-picking character, took audience members on an interactive cabaret piece using mobile phones, at PILOT 13 at the amble around in Birmingham City Centre, where Theatre in Birmingham. they encountered several desperate characters who drew them into BLACK TONIC their lives for a few brief moments. Audience members observed that In January 2008 some early R&D took place on our new project our characters blended surprisingly convincingly into the real world designed to be performed in hotels, culminating in a performance of the square, where reality was often stranger than fiction. sharing at Malmaison Hotel Birmingham. In collaboration with the Funded by Company, writer Clare Duffy has created an original and engaging MAYFLY short story which will form the narrative basis of the production. Our light and sound show in a tent flew off to The Green Man festival Funded by Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council & The Sir Barry Jackson in the Brecon Beacons, and Upstaging Nature in London during Trust, supported by mac & Malmaison. August 2007.

The Other Way Works creates daring and remarkable theatre that draws the audience 3 THE OTHER WAY WORKS into the very heart of the experience. Black Tonic | Thessaloniki | Photo: Chris Keenan .

07/08 INTERNATIONAL IETM Associate Artist Katherine Maxwell-Cook takes up the story: In November 2007 Katie attended the IETM Meeting in Ghent, “We spent five days working in Thessaloniki focusing on the Belgium. As well as seeing some inspiring Belgian performance aesthetic of Black Tonic and shooting loads of footage for the video work, and networking with producers and artists from across Europe, installations. Using images drawn from Claire Duffy’s short story and she moderated a Meeting Group session on ‘One-to-One Theatre’. music from Mark Day’s soundscape, we created installations in different hotel rooms around the city. Chris Keenan worked his usual BLACK TONIC - RESIDENCY filming magic shooting everything from locals playing late night cards Katie and other members of the Company embarked on an in a back street bar to stray dogs roaming freely to lift doors opening International Residency in Thessaloniki, Greece in February 2008. and closing. An army of mini hotel shampoo bottles walking out over Collaborating with our Greek Scenographers Alexandra Boussoulega a zebra crossing was my first dabble into stop frame animation and a and Rania Yfantidou, we developed elements of Black Tonic. lot of fun. It was a fantastic week of sharing skills, working cross Funded by a Birmingham City Council International Development Grant culturally and getting more of a feel for the story.”

The Other Way Works creates daring and remarkable theatre that draws the audience 4 THE OTHER WAY WORKS into the very heart of the experience. Cityscape | Photo: Chris Keenan .

07/08 PARTICIPATION CITYSCAPE driving tap-dancing robot and a ‘gridmonster’, and lots of songs to In keeping with Architecture Week 2007’s theme: ‘How Green Is Our join in with. Space?’ we worked with visual artist Lorna Rose and pupils from Funded by Arts Council England. Supported by Chandos Primary School, Creative Chandos Primary School in Birmingham, and let our imaginations Partnerships, Architecture Week, and Chiltern Railways. lead the way as we built a 3D city from scratch using recycled materials, which was displayed throughout Architecture Week in June ENCOUNTERS 2007 at Moor Street Station in central Birmingham. With Breathe and mac, The Other Way Works co-organised and took part in the Encounters Week in November 2007. The professional As part of Cityscape The Other Way Works created a special development workshops explored intimate performance - performance for children, inspired by the children’s own stories, performance for an audience of one, and were facilitated by Amanda which was performed inside the 3D city. Performers brought the new Hadingue from Stan’s Cafe. city to life with a host of friendly characters to meet, including a taxi- Funded by Arts Council England

The Other Way Works creates daring and remarkable theatre that draws the audience 5 THE OTHER WAY WORKS into the very heart of the experience. Encounters Workshop Week at mac .

07/08 OUR THANKS TO FUNDERS PARTNERS & SUPPORTERS Birmingham City Council - Arts Team Project Grant mac, Birmingham Birmingham City Council - International Development Grant PILOT Nights, Birmingham Arts Council England - Grants for the Arts Creative Partnerships, Birmingham The Sir Barry Jackson Trust Chandos Primary School, Highgate, Birmingham Upstaging Nature, London China Plate Chiltern Railways at Moor Street Station Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece

The Other Way Works creates daring and remarkable theatre that draws the audience 6 THE OTHER WAY WORKS into the very heart of the experience.